Ashwini Iyer Tiwari: ‘Why create stories when there are none?’

All set to kick off her third directorial with Kangana Ranaut, Ashwini Iyer Tiwari discusses the importance of making one’s own judgements, creating a unique space and challenging oneself.

On November 11, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s third directorial, Panga, featuring Kangana Ranaut, kicks off in Bhopal. She has fleshed out the story from a one-line idea that came from the production studio, Fox Star. It’s a story about kabaddi, but more than that, as Ashwiny is quick to point out, it’s also about family values, relationships and challenging oneself. “A story that needs to be told and I’m telling it at the right time. That it’s also linked to a sport makes it more challenging,” says the director who after 15 years quit a steady, high-flying job in advertising to chase after a dream. Much to the dismay of her mother who’d earlier stopped her from becoming a painter, pushing her towards commercial art so she could get could draw and earn money too.

Over 200 ad films later, Ashwiny decided she wanted to direct a feature film and plunged into Nil Battey Sannata, a film about a domestic help, her 14-year-old daughter and their educational journey. “I’ve always been fearless. The least that can happen is that I have to retrace my steps to where I started,” she reasons, adding that more than the subject, the risk, for her was money. She’s been financially independent, organising events for Rs 3,500 even while studying. “And I was assured that this film would not earn me any money. But I still wanted to tell stories on a big platform,” she avers.

So, after some soul-searching, she decided to take the plunge because the goal is to tell stories, travel and eventually become a farmer in the mountains. “I don’t need too much money. Three years ago, we shifted into a small row house in Chembur so I could gift myself a garden on my 35th birthday. Since then I’ve been happy growing flowers and veggies,” she smiles.

Ashwiny managed to convince Swara Bhaskar to play a mother despite prophesies of doom and Pankaj Tripathi who’d been typecast in dark roles, to play a teacher. “Pankaj sir got cold feet on the eve of the shoot and wanted to opt out. I asked him if he could recall a teacher from his school days. He remembered one they had all imitated and I told him to simply play him. I believe a good actor is like a chameleon and Pankaj sir later admitted that it was a nice change to trade the gun for a bundle of notes,” Ashwiny reminisces, adding that three days into the Bareilly Ki Barfi shoot, her heroine Kriti Sanon, admitted that Pankaj and Seema Pahwa were like her own parents. “Sometimes a role is all about finding yourself again.”

Kangana Ranaut (left) is Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s leading lady in Panga

Nil Battey Sannata got her critical acclaim while Bareilly Ki Barfi, a slice-of-life comedy which extended the relationship tale to father and daughter, was a commercial success. “My second film was for youngsters who migrate to cities and become the face of our country. As a country, we are experimenting with lifestyles and our cinema is evolving too. It’s the best time to be a creative person,” she states.

So, what was the one-line idea of Panga that appealed to her and which she took to Kangana? “If I tell you that, I would be revealing all my cards,” she laughs, flashbacking to how she’d had texted the actress saying she was the Bareilly Ki Barfi director and wanted to meet her. “She instantly called me back and asked why I was introducing myself. I met her on April 14, the South Indian New Year, and soon after the narration, she was on board, saying I was her first woman director,” she says.

Soon after that, there were reports that Ashwiny had included a non-interference clause in her contract. A strong statement denying the news as “false and baseless,” was soon issued, with a plea not to be judgemental. Ashwiny reiterates this, saying, “I like to make my own judgements on work, interactions and equations. No one has the right to pass snap judgements on my personal relationships. My equations have always been cordial and I trust Kangana to bring this character alive and she trusts me.

Creation is a two-way process. Why create stories when there are none?”

The message of Panga is that if your family is with you, the sky is the limit. How supportive is her own family, in particular her writer-director husband, Nitesh Tiwari? “We’ve worked together for a long time in advertising even before coming into films. We are in sync on thoughts and lifestyle choices. There’s no power play in this relationship, whoever has the better idea wins. I don’t understand feminism, for me it’s all about balancing the Yin and the Yang within yourself. And within the family, responsibilities are meant to be shared without question,” she says, recalling how when she got the opportunity to shoot the Tamil version of Nil Battey Sannata, Nitesh packed her off to Chennai even though he was busy with Dangal then, telling her not to fret, he was their kids’ father too and would take care of them.

“My grandmother raised three kids alone, my aunts have bank jobs so my uncles cook, my father still does. Life is all about juggling, balancing and finding yourself. My greatest joy was when my eight-year-old daughter Amaarisa who is hardly exposed to films, wrote in a school essay that she wants to be a famous director like her mother. I knew then; I was doing it right,” she smiles.

Any pre-shoot jitters? “With every good idea it becomes difficult because you can’t repeat success. You can only measure yourself against a lucky moment. It still feels like my first film and nervousness makes me work harder,” she signs off.

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